The construction of contextual def-use associations for object-oriented systems

This paper describes a program representation and algorithms for realizing a novel structural testing methodology that not only focuses on addressing the complex features of object-oriented languages, but also incorporates the structure of object-oriented software into the approach. The testing methodology is based on the construction of contextual def-use associations, which provide context to each definition and use of an object. Testing based on contextual def-use associations can provide increased test coverage by identifying multiple unique contextual def-use associations for the same context-free association. Such a testing methodology promotes more thorough and focused testing of the manipulation of objects in object-oriented programs. This paper presents a technique for the construction of contextual def-use associations, as well as detailed examples illustrating their construction, an analysis of the cost of constructing contextual def-use associations with this approach, and a description of a prototype testing tool that shows how the theoretical contributions of this work can be useful for structural test coverage.